Posted on 11/25/2010 8:41:56 AM PST by kristinn
A hit piece by a liberal blogger about a slip of the tongue by Sarah Palin regarding the crisis on the Korean peninsula has become an international news story that is being spun to impugn Palin's credibility as a potential presidential candidate.
Palin has been dishonestly quoted out of context in dozens of articles and broadcast reports as saying on the Glenn Beck radio show on Wednesday, "We gotta stand with our North Korean allies."
Here, in context, is what Palin actually said (transcription by Kristinn):
Glen Beck: "Sarah you said, you said in the last few days that you are considering a run for president. And uh, polls show that you would probably win the Republican nomination. How would you handle a situation like just developed in, in North Korea?"
Palin: "Well, North Korea, this is stemming from I think a greater problem when we're all sittin' around asking, "Oh no, what are we gonna do?" and we're not having a lot of faith that the White House is gonna come out with a strong enough policy to, um, sanction what it is that North Korea is gonna do. So this speaks to a bigger picture here that certainly scares me in terms our national security policies. But obviously, gotta stand with our North Korean allies. We're bound to by, by treaty."
Beck: "South Korea."
Palin: "We're also bound by, yeah, we're also bound by prudence to stand with our, our South Korean allies. Yes. And, uh, you know to remind North Korea, well, we're not gonna reward bad behavior and we're not gonna walk away. And we do need to press China to do more to increase the pressure on North Korea."
The smear started with liberal blogger Oliver Willis who posted an entry with the title, AUDIO: Sarah Palin: "We Gotta Stand With Our North Korean Allies. The blog post did not transcribe Palin's interview with Beck, it just had a snarky comment, "Genius. Absolute genius. When Glenn Beck is correcting you on foreign policy, well… genius."
Willis included the audio clip in his post which this transcription is based on. As can be seen, it was a simple slip of the tongue. But, because of how Willis disingenuously framed it, the slip has become "truth" to once again be used to smear Palin as ignorant of foreign affairs.
The hit piece was picked up by Mediaite, a site founded by former MSNBCer Dan Abrams, which titled their hit piece, Sarah Palin - North Korean Allies.
Mediaite also posted the audio clip. But even with the evidence that the comment was clearly a slip of the tongue, Mediaite smeared Palin as ignorant by quoting her out of context rather than publishing the entire exchange with Beck.
For good measure, Mediaite brought back a previous smear of Palin that claimed in 2008 when she was selected to be John McCain's running mate she did not know Korea was divided between North and South.
The Weekly Standard came to Palin's defense last night with a piece that chided her critics for the smear.
That did not stop the smear from going global, however. A Google News search shows nearly one hundred articles accusing Palin of not knowing that South Korea is our ally.
Wire services, broadcast networks and newspapers across America and the globe have gleefully picked up the smear.
The BBC piled on today with an article that said, "Her slip of the tongue over North Korea will provide more ammunition for critics who say she doesn't have sufficient knowledge or experience for high office."
The Times of India headlined their article, Sarah Palin's Latest Verbal Gaffe - North Korea an Ally.
It is a testament to Palin's global reach and influence that such a simple slip would garner worldwide headlines and be used by her enemies here and abroad to smear her.
However, the truth must be told and the media once more shamed for their duplicitious reporting.
Because those are exactly the two phrases that instantly come to mind when I think of Romney ... and the Rombots as well ...
MSM works on the theory that a hollow brain is easy to convince. Unfortunately there are an abundance of hollow brains who vote and they’ll select the candidate the MSM supports. They are no more than the MSM Zombies.
like when she talked about “her Muslim religion”, oh wait that was someone else
“I won’t defend her just because she’s a conservative. In fact, just the opposite. I expect more of her; not only her, but any candidate on my side of the political aisle. I want to be proud of them, not run around defending indefensible drivel about a critical foreign policy matter.
It doesn’t matter what Obama, Biden, the MSM or anyone else did or said or flubbed up. What matters is that our candidates be far better than the opposition.”
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I agree. We want to be proud of strong Conservative spokespeople. Perhaps Sarah will become yet a stronger spokesperson, than she already is, or are you saying she’s not one now just because you’ve got a flub on her (which was apparently her 6th or 7th interview that day?) As to defending Conservatives - I’m not talking about defending her flub up directly, which you call ‘indefensible drivel’. I’m saying when the propagandists want to savage Conservatives, it’s about time we hang tough together - or do you disagree with that also?
Could she stare down the North Koreans?
” You Betcha!”
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I have to say, this cracks me up - in a good way...:)
“But then, I came up through an environment just like hers, with deer and moose hangin’ in the wood shed every fall, pickin’ fiddle heads , strawberries, blue berries, raspberries and cranberries, fishing for salmon.That’s another world from what most Americans know. And it is a good world.”
Many of us who read about American history, read about these things nostagically, and agree with you!
Candor, I must say this is a great defense of Sarah Palin. I am bookmarking for later reference and citing. I don’t know if Sarah Palin with be elected POTUS, but if she gets the Republican nomination, I will be front and center behind her in liberal infested Seattle, WA.
“She is exactly what priggish, overly sophisticated America needs.And that is why the liberal fascists are scared to death of her. Sarah Palin is just not sophisticated enough for them to destroy her. Sophistication equals attack-ability. They can’t get a handle on her and so resort to desperate measures of lying, misquoting, scurrilous attacks on her children. She just breezes right through them.Do you get that part? I think its a riot of mal-attempted defamation.No conservative should fall for it.
This attempted defamatory process is also highly entertaining and most Americans actually have evolved to really love her after being entertained.The more she is attacked, the more her support grows.
The enemies of America have a tremendously skilled and effective adversary in Sarah Palin. If she aces liberal fascists like she has shown us , can you imagine how she would handle bad boys like Kim Jung Un? I would pay to see that. As a matter of fact, I WILL PAY to see that, as much as I can afford to, right into Governor Palin’s campaign fund.(I may work for her campaign directly, the resume is in.)”
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To the degree that this is true, the gaffe issue becomes one of almost a test of whether we’ll defend Palin generally, regardless of whether she takes the nomination. And regardless of any potential nomination Palin is a very important spokesperson for Conservatives and Pro-Lifers specifically, not to mention Conservative Christians. Why would we not want to defend her against unfair attacks from socialists?
I know Conservatives here have strong feelings about Palin one way or the other about this gaffe, its relative importance, or unimportance, and more generally whether it goes to her preparedness for what is arguably the toughest, most important job in the world - POTUS.
“I’m waiting for Palin to demonstrate unequivocally that she’s no lightweight. Having conservative views is a good start, but by no means enough. We should be demanding more of all the candidates, not excusing their weaknesses.”
Good points - well stated. I still say we defend Palin against the socialist press, while demanding more (like AiT’s post #14 above, which is great advice and following in Reagan’s footsteps.)
“She`s already in a deficit with voters beyond the conservative base.. slipups like these will dig her deeper.”
Somewhere between 40 and 50% of Americans now self ID as Conservatives, 30 something % as Indies and 19 or 20% as liberals. I think Sarah will continue to strengthen and the liberals will mock her all the way into and through her WH years, should she be elected. We should not worry about liberals. Also Palin does not need to win all Conservatives.
Wonder if Palin would run on a DeMint ticket as Veep? Or other way around?
“Tell us who is a more viable candidate than Sarah.”
I think a Jim DeMint/Marco Rubio ticket would be very strong and excite the Tea Party. I’d also like to See Palin/DeMint, DeMint/Palin (don’t know how willing either would be up or down ticket on that.)
‘By doing so, she`ll make herself a more viable candidate.’
“That’s just liberal-speak for “We hate her with all our hearts, but can’t find anything of real substance to hold against her”...”
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Or, it could just be constructive criticism, right? That is allowed in this discussion, is it not? I hardly think you can accuse ScottinVA of liberal-speak when he generally defends Gov. Palin (as do I). However when AiT (post #14) and ScottinVA make comments with the sincere desire to see Sarah Palin grow in stature, there is nothing in the world wrong with that, and it’s not worthy of labeling and chiding them for it, imho. Best to you there.
“His (Biden’s) outright LIES are equally huge”
Let’s not forget how he completely plagiarized an entire speech from some UK politician. Yet somehow he has respect and brings gravitas to Obama’s ticket in 2008? How do such things happen? (Answer: socialist press with an agenda.)
You may be correct in evaluating the end of the Bush approach to NK, however don't forget Bush elevated the NK problem by including them in his axis of evil speech, which not appears pretty accurate and salient.
“They’re trying to frame this as Sarah’s equivalent to Dan Quayle’s “potatoe” moment, in order to make her look stupid.”
We need to make sure that that rubbish doesn’t work any more, not just for Gov. Palin’s sake, but for all Conservatives. Thus my theory as to why we ‘must’ defend her on this. It’s not just about Gov. Palin, of course. It’s about hanging together as Conservatives.
“Hell, Romney won’t even talk, let alone criticize Obama, I don’t see anybody critiquing any of the other potential nominees and a lot of double standards toward Palin.
There will be plenty of time to get into more detail on policy as candidates announce.”
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Good points.
The Muslims Faith comment isn’t a mistake. He was born Muslim and raised Muslim for years, before becoming a Christian at that Black Supremacist Church. It was a Freudian slip.
“And every time her answers come up shallow it only reinforces the “I can’t see her as president” impression.”
People voted ‘impression’ in 2008. With the EPIC FAIL in the WH and former Congress, they will continue to vote their pocketbooks and for their kids’ futures (that is to say against the debt insanity of the RATS) in 2012. If Palin wins the nomination, and especially in that context, she will be fine. As Pres. George HW Bush said, ‘it’s the economy stupid.’ I quote that with no disrespect.
“But, feel free to share any current polling data that shows her winning over independents and beating 0bama.”
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Hey Scott, I wanted to share this polling.
Obama’s poll numbers point to his defeat in 2012
http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2010/11/obamas-poll-numbers-point-his-defeat-2012
Especially important I think is this part, “And that includes conservatives, of whom there are more every day. Gallup has found that the number of people who call themselves conservative has gone up sharply since 2008, “fueled by heightened conservatism among independents”, which partially addresses your concern about Palin’s numbers among Indies. Also keep in mind that 2012 will be a continuing referendum on the EPIC FAIL of the economy, which failure on obummer’s part does not show signs of abating.
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